You know what's funny? Country music. Just kidding, sorry country lovers. Personally it's not my favourite but I know many people love country music. I like to listen to a lot of pop, alternative, electronic, r&b, singer/songwriter, and some rap.

My tastes have definitely changed growing up but I find that my parents music didn't influence my choices which I know isn't the case for most people. When I was younger I loved Disney music and even though I don't listen to it anymore, there is one song that I still listen to that brings tears to my eyes because I have a personal childhood memory connected to it. As I got older I feel that my music choices went along with my life experiences. I've also broadened my repertoire. I started off really liking pop music and rap and then I slowly travelled more into r&b and singer/songwriter territory and now I've been listening to a lot of electronic and alternative music plus some reggae. 

I want to know what genre of music you enjoy & why. Does anyone still listen to the Disney classics ? & Who ( if anyone ) has influenced your choices?
Also add to my song list page !

I just recently started 3 new piano pieces and they're all very fast and they change key quite a few times. Two of them are in 4/4 time and the other is in 2/3. There is a lot of scale like progressions throughout the pieces and especially in the Sonatina.
 It's important to keep my fingers agile and graceful so I can play these pieces to my best ability. It's just like in sports how you have to workout and practice every day to be able to play to your best ability.
Recently I received a second place ribbon at Kiwanis festival for my Passpied. It just shows that hard work and constant practice pays off and it can be fun too.
Tell me about your accomplishments and struggles. Let me know how you feel about your passion and the work you put into it.

After trying for hours to do a cover of Ed Sheeran's Give Me Love this is what I ended up with..

Hopefully I will finish it by Monday , I'm just too frustrated tonight. Sorry guys !

Excuse my reaction. Some things do come together however like this video that I found about musical stairs, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw check it out !
Imagine if our whole world was like that. It would be too good to be true I think personally.
We would have creative pieces being created everywhere and people would get an extra boost for their day I feel. I mean what if we put musical stairs in office buildings or at schools ? Amazing right? I think so.
I'd also like to comment that I've created a song list page, feel free to add to it !

I'm actually really irritated. Pop culture is getting more and more sick and repetitive. The melodies are even getting to be a poor excuse for a song.
Where's the real talent? The heart? The effort? The soul? Not here.
I'm tired of the songs all about sex and drugs and I'm tired of the songs that repeat the same words and melody over and over again.
First, set up your song properly. Secondly, if you only have that much to say then you probably shouldn't be writing or producing songs. Song writing is suppose to come from the raw emotion inside you.

When I write songs it's because I've been in that situation or someone I know has told me a story. How can you write a song about something you've never even experienced and connect with it ? You can't. It would be fake emotion.

I keep scrolling in iTunes waiting to find some kind of real musical talent and I haven't found it for weeks. My playlist right now is getting really boring playing over and over. I might be biased but tell me what your opinion is, maybe I'll see something I'm not seeing right now. Please someone learn how to write music or put some real soul into their music before I lose my mind here. Thanks.

Possible job opportunities I want to pursue :
Singer/Songwriter
Child and Youth Worker
Therapist
Psychologist 
 
First, a singer/songwriting career is basically luck and on top of that, there aren't many jobs open to start with. In the music industry more and  more people are trying to make it and trying to pursue their dreams. Also most are getting their breaks from TV shows such as X factor or American idol. The problem is that you must be an American citizen most times. All the labels are getting their artists from different big time shows. If I look for music artist positions in Kitchener/Waterloo I usually find two and the rest are not anywhere close or not even anything related.


I think the government needs to create more Canadian opportunities because we lose people to the U.S. for that reason. There used to be a version called Canadian Idol but that got cancelled. We shouldn't be basing this job off of competitions. It does work and there are some fantastic artists that show up on these shows but really it needs to be taken more seriously. I don't believe that the government is doing anything currently and a solution to this problem might be to have the arts be a more significant part of our community. 

Because most times young artists starting out just don't know what to do or where to start, schools should host programs for students to come in and learn about the music industry and create an action plan of steps that they should take to be successful. There are so many shy or confused artists out there it would be a great way to encourage and bring out some excellent talent. It won't create jobs spontaneously but it will get students started and then with all the new music students there would have to be bigger programs and more job openings created.

 
To gain experience and set you apart from your peers, it would be important to perform wherever you could. Coffee houses, gigs, coop, anything that you can do. Besides that, keep asking around and be confident. You could learn another language to in cooperate into your songs and some places even look for that in a resume. Another strategy would be to post on a music website or email to big companies. YouTube and Sound Cloud are two good ones. The fact that you're using these sites, making videos, or using studio equipment also makes you stand out because you know how to use technology which is really needed in the world that we live in today and even more in the future.

It is a hard work environment to go into but there are many branches. It really is left up to chance and luck.

We all have those days where we just barely make it through and go home to crawl into bed. Or those days when we just need to hear 4 little words like 'It will be okay.' I put together a list of my top 5 songs as of this week, in no particular order, that help me get through those times. Feel free to comment your favourites or let me know if you think a song should be added.
1. Clarity by Zedd feat. Foxes 

 2. Words by Skylar Grey

3. Hold On by James Arthur

4. Can't Hold Us by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton

5. People Help The People by Birdy

I noticed that Hedley plays the same guitar as me and James Arthur plays a similar one. For me that's a really special connection to have to idolize these singers and know that we have something in common.
My guitar was passed down to me from my mom and it means a lot to me because she used to sing anywhere she could get and she didn't get to pursue her dream. I want to not live that out for her but to make her proud of me for living out my dream. 
As a musician it pushes you even more and more every time you find one of those connections with another artist. Tell me about your personal connections with your idols, what do they do for you?

I checked out the songs Mr.Riche recommended and I actually fell in love with one called Born to Ruin - Wildlife. It's really similar to the band Imagine Dragons I think and the genre is really what I love listening too on my 'happy days'. I definitely can't sing this style, but it's perfect for listening to.
Another comment I wanted to add is that I found a singer from X Factor that I've also fallen in love with. James Arthur ha an incredible voice and impeccable vocal tone and range. I can't stop listening to his music and I encourage everyone to check it out ! Faded and Hold On are two of my favourites ! I hope to follow his footsteps in some ways, someday.

It's just a quick verse and chorus but I decided to put up a cover. Not the best on vocals I realize but I was trying to get the chords right. The song is called Beautiful and I wrote it after some really tough events in my life. This is the kind of style I think I want to be singing if I can make it as an artist. Also here's a link to a post I made a while ago. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200902602750728&set=vb.1334911099&&theater   Let me know what you think !

For this post I want to turn my blog over to you ! I can't decide if I want to do a critique of another singer/artist or to post one of my own pieces; a song or art piece. If you feel that I should critique someone else's work please comment the artist and the piece you would want me to critique. If you feel that I should create or share one of my own pieces or do a cover please comment the piece or give me some suggestions. If there is anything else, let me know !